Photo By Michael Strasser | Hundreds of community members are welcomed to the “Home for the Holidays” event...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Nov. 27, 2025) -- Fort Drum community members kicked off Thanksgiving on post with a burst of energy during the annual Turkey Trot and a well-earned plate of comfort food during “Home for the Holidays” at The Peak on Nov. 27.
The Fort Drum Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation team hosted both events to provide a memorable holiday for community members, with more than 300 runners braving the chilly morning wind and hail on the 5K course.
“I think this is a great way to bring the entire community together – Soldiers, family members, DOD civilians and military retirees,” said Jon Burnard, Fort Drum FMWR supervisory community recreation coordinator. “And with this being Thanksgiving, we have a lot of single Soldiers here that aren’t going away for the holidays so they can run now and have a great meal later with us.”
Max Dummar ran the Turkey Trot with his son Ezra, who is a member of the Child and Youth Services’ Run Club.
“I’ve run 5Ks with my son before, but this is our first Turkey Trot here,” Dummar said. “I think an event like this is awesome because family is an important part of Fort Drum, and this is a way of taking care of Soldiers and families.”
Aiden Ragsdale, who runs on the Indian River High School cross country team, was first to cross the finish line – followed close behind by teammates and runners from Carthage High School.
“I haven’t done a Turkey Trot in a while,” he said. “I just finished cross country season, and I wanted to do some more runs. And I knew some other Indian River and Carthage kids would be out here, so I thought this would be fun.”
Nothing whets an appetite like a good run, and Aiden said he looked forward to going home to eat. Other community members opted to return to The Peak that afternoon for the “Home for the Holidays” event. A team of volunteers welcomed guests to share a meal, camaraderie, and watch football on the big screens.
The holiday meal included turkey, ham, and all the classic fixings and seasonal sides – enough to feed 800 people – as well as an assortment of pies and a variety of 20 ice cream flavors from the Mountain Peak Ice Cream shop.
“I think what makes this event so special every year is the fact that we know there are Soldiers and families here that are not able to go home for Thanksgiving, so we are their family for the day,” said Becky Morgia, Fort Drum FMWR Business and Community Recreation Division chief.
Morgia said they had more than 40 volunteers – many from the Fort Drum Better Opportunity for Single Soldiers (BOSS) program – help prepare and serve the meal inside The Peak ballroom, and another 20 volunteers during the Turkey Trot.
“I think we surround ourselves with the best possible team,” she said. “We asked for staff to volunteer to work this event, because we know they have families at home. But we always have more than enough that volunteer because they enjoy what they do, and I think the morale is very high when they’re here.”
Photos from the Fort Drum FMWR Turkey Trot and Home for the Holidays events are available at www.flickr.com/photos/drum10thmountain/albums.
| Date Taken: | 11.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.27.2025 16:08 |
| Story ID: | 552534 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 10 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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